Bound
by FallenKyoujin
Summary: For as long he could remember, Naruto's voice has held a hypnotic quality, capable of binding anyone who listens to his will. It's a good thing too, for without it he has no hope for survival—not in a world that wants him dead. AU story, no pairings.
1. Chapter I

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. This work has not been endorsed by Kishimoto Masashi, Shueisha, Viz Media, Shōnen Jump, Studio Pierrot, Aniplex, or any of the others holding copyright or license to the Naruto manga, anime, movies, and products. Other names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author receives no financial gain from its production or distribution. It is available without charge.

-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-

**Bound**_  
Chapter I  
_

-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-

Blood wrapped around his body like chains. In the background, screams shook the ground, ripping though the air like a tangible weapon. He shook his head slowly, trying to clear out the muddle haze that wound through his mind, binding him to—

...

To what? He couldn't remember. He thought it had been important, but...

Maybe not. Maybe it didn't matter.

But maybe it did.

-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-

Naruto shot up in bed with a strangled gasp. Tremors wracked his body and sweat poured of his skin. For a moment the young blond struggled with his sheets and nearly fell out of bed for an effort. Only when his racing heart had calmed enough for him to realize that he was at home—_safe_—did he finally relax. A second later he flopped back into bed with a groan.

_4:00 AM_

His clock stared at him with large, blinking numbers. They were blue, Naruto noticed distractedly. Most clocks had red numbers, didn't they?

Shaking off his pointless thoughts, Naruto swung his legs out of bed and then slowly pulled the rest of himself up as well. He shifted for a moment, vainly trying to avoid contact with the shockingly cold floor, before leisurely making his way towards the bathroom to take a shower.

Another day.

Another night cut short.

Naruto didn't leave his apartment for another two hours. When he had he was dressed simply, as always: Black pants and a red shirt with a black jacket thrown over it, to ward off the chilly wind brought by the fall weather. Also, instead of shinobi sandals he wore soft-soled boots. He'd always hated sandals; they made him feel too exposed, too unprotected. A shinobi could do nothing if his feet got damaged, after all.

_The legs. Always go for the legs._

Today, there was a slight, nearly unnoticeable, bounce in Naruto's step. This was because today was _the_ day. The day that he became a shinobi. If it'd been up to him, he would have become one years ago.

"Damn age limit," he grumbled aloud. Whenever the village was in peacetime, the graduation age was twelve, no exceptions, not even for geniuses. Naruto thought it was a rip-off.

About half way to the Academy, Naruto suddenly made a turn into a small shop. He paused in the doorway, ignoring the small bell that chimed above his head. The store was empty except for the man behind the counter.

Good.

Naruto made his way up to the counter, noticing the wariness and distrust in the man's eyes. It had always been like that, for as long as he could remember. He knew why, but didn't care at this point. It was just a fact of life. Naruto did not, however, go out of his way to smile at the man or anyone else like him.

"Give me three tamagoyaki," Naruto demanded roughly, his face blank. "You will not request any money for them and you will forget that I was here as soon as I leave."

The man's eyes clouded over for a second, unfocused. Then he blinked and the haziness disappeared. He shrugged then, and began to fill Naruto's order.

Meanwhile, the blond had already taken a seat at the counter, doing nothing to hide his grin. The man would do what he said. They _always_ did what he said, no matter the order. It was a rather interesting ability that Naruto had had for as long as he could remember. His voice had some strange quality to it that forced people to obey whatever he said, usually without even realizing what they were doing. He had just taken it as meaning that his will was greater than anybody else's. Naruto was careful to hide the ability though; people mistrusted him as it was, probably instinctively. He didn't want to know what they'd do if they found out.

A few minutes later the store owner set three plates down in front of Naruto and then returned to whatever he'd been doing before the boy had come in. Naruto instantly dug in, in order to appease his growling stomach.

The ability was useful in many ways, but in particular was invaluable to a shinobi. For example, if he encountered an enemy shinobi, all he'd have to do is tell them to stay still and he'd be able to defeat them in an instant. As a matter of fact, he could also tell said enemy to fall unconscious or drop dead and their brain would automatically comply. _Very_ useful, that. It made him the ultimate "silent killer", and thus the ultimate shinobi.

Not that anybody knew it. Or at least _almost_ nobody. There were a few people who knew what Naruto could do, but he kept those people bound to his will almost permanently. They would never be able to tell anyone, nor did they have the ability to _want_ to do so any longer.

He expected nothing less.

-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-

Naruto arrived at the Academy an hour before class started. Instead of heading into the building however, he made his way over to tree near the side of the building that was hidden from prying eyes. There was another boy already waiting in the shadows: Uchiha Sasuke.

As Naruto stopped before him, Sasuke straightened and then bowed his head politely. The blond stayed silent and took the brief moment to study him.

From the first day he'd met him, something about Sasuke had rubbed Naruto the wrong way. So, of course, he'd quickly made sure to get Sasuke under his control. Sasuke had been one of the first, actually. An "experiment", if you will, to test just how far Naruto's control over a person's will could span.

In the years since then, Naruto had decided Sasuke was strange. He was one of few of Naruto's "subjects" who understood that he was being controlled, and yet he didn't seem to care. To Naruto it just proved that he was touched in the head. Or maybe just power-hungry; so long as he had access to the resources and training facilities that were under Naruto's control, he didn't mind being told what to do.

Naruto had asked him about it once, about why he'd so easily traded his freewill for power. Sasuke had told him about his brother and Naruto had first laughed, and then agreed that he might do the same in Sasuke's position. _Might_.

"Do you want me to pass the exam today?" Sasuke asked when it became clear that Naruto wasn't going to speak.

An amused smile tugged at the corners of Naruto's lips. "Do _you_ want to?" he retorted.

Sasuke shrugged dispassionately. "It doesn't matter either way to me," he said. "I'll still continue to train regardless."

"But you won't have a Jounin to teach you," Naruto pointed out.

"You could order a Jounin to teach me—us—if you wanted too," Sasuke shot back. "It wouldn't be the first time."

Naruto let out a bark of laughter at that. "True," he agreed. "Well, there'd be no point in holding you back. If anything, it would be more difficult because you'd have to explain why you failed when you're at the top of the class. So go ahead; nail them."

"I'm assuming that you've already asked the Hokage about the team assignments then?"

Another grin was his reply. "Of course. Although nothing will be finalized until the exam results come in, a lot of the teams have already been set up based on our school records."

"The old, 'balanced team' thing is still in place then?"

"Yeah," Naruto agreed with a nod. "The strongest students in the class are paired with the weakest. It makes sense in the long run, but in the short term is causes a lot of tension among Genin. Probably leads to a high Genin mortality rate too. But who am I to question the Hokage, ne?"

Sasuke snorted. "Who indeed," he muttered dryly. "Well? What are the teams?"

"So impetuous, Sasuke. It's not like you," Naruto commented slyly. "Teams, teams. Well, there's the obvious Ino Shika Cho threesome. A tracker team has also been set up: Hyuuga, Aburame, and Inuzuka. And, interestingly enough, I've been paired up with you and that one loud girl in our class, Haruno."

The dark haired boy quirked an eyebrow at that. "Us?" he said disbelievingly. "But I'm at the top of the class and you're hardly the weakest, let alone even in the lower half. And doesn't Haruno have the top theoretical scores?"

"Hey, it was _my_ idea," Naruto replied. "Anyway, since it surprised me too I asked Sarutobi about it and he said that it's because our teacher is supposed to Hatake Kakashi. He has the Sharingan in one of his eyes—hence why he's supposed to be your teacher—and he was the student of my father."

"I didn't know that the Yondaime had students."

Naruto shrugged. "Neither did I."

It had come as a great shock at first, when he'd learnt that his father was Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage. Since at that time he'd already known about the Kyuubi, he'd felt a great amount of shock and rage. He'd since come to terms with it—and possibly was even thankful for it, since it might be because of the Kyuubi that he had the manipulation abilities that he did—but it still stung a bit to know the truth.

"Anyway," the blond continued apathetically. "I was thinking of changing the teams around a bit. For one, the Ino Shika Cho idea is just a bad idea from top to bottom—have you _seen_ just how 'well' they get along?—but I want the two of us to be on different teams so that I can keep a wide range of influence. I'm thinking of putting Sarutobi Asuma as my sensei. He used to one of the Twelve Elite Guardians of the Fire Country Daimyo, you know."

"If that's your choice," Sasuke said evenly. "But..." He paused. "Just...don't put Haruno on my team."

"Say please!" Naruto teased.

Sasuke didn't even bother to glare; he'd gotten out of such habits years ago. "Please."

The younger boy laughed loudly. "Maybe I should put a dog collar around your neck and call you my bitch," Naruto smirked. Sasuke ignored the jeer with an ease born of many years of experience. "Alright, alright, I won't put her on your team. Who would you like for your teammates then?"

He paused to consider the question. "...That Hyuuga girl," he said finally. "The Uchiha and Hyuuga clans may have a history of bad blood, but once she gets over her shyness she could be very powerful. And valuable, since she's the clan heir." Sasuke paused to glance over at Naruto. "Unless you'd like to have her on your team, for those same reasons...?"

"No," was the instant answer. "I'm aiming for the Yamanaka girl, actually. Her mind tricks could be dead useful. Not to mention that through her I'll have access to her father, who works in Intelligence. I'll let you work on the Hyuuga. Bring her into her potential, as it were. God knows you've got a hell of a lot more patience than I do."

Sasuke nodded. "Fine. For my other teammate...I'd have to say either Nara or Aburame. That Inuzuka may be strong, but he's too loud."

"Not Shikamaru," Naruto answered. "I'm putting him on my team. He's a whole lot more intelligent than he looks. He'll make a valuable strategist. As a matter of fact, I've been thinking of 'recruiting' him for a while. I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if he's already noticed something off about me."

"Aburame Shino then," Sasuke said. "He's not exactly weak either. So then, it'll be me, Hyuuga Hinata, and Aburame Shino and you, Yamanaka Ino, and Nara Shikamaru? That'll leave Inuzuka, Haruno, and Akimichi together, won't it?" His tone spoke volumes about what he thought of the combination.

"It's not my problem," the whiskered boy replied with a shrug. "And besides, they won't necessarily be together; there _are_ another fifteen kids in our class, you know. Chances are that none of them will be on the same team."

At that moment a clear bell echoed through the school grounds. Naruto smiled widely at the timing and then jerked his head in the direction of the Academy.

"You go ahead first," he said. "I'll head around back."

Sasuke pushed himself away from the tree he'd been leaning on and bowed his head towards Naruto again. "As you say, Naruto-sama."

They parted ways silently and without a single backward glance.

-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-

The exams were pathetic, if Naruto said so himself. Just three Bunshin? He could perform the jutsu in his sleep! It was hardly something to determine whether or not they were ready to become shinobi. He couldn't believe that he'd waited to pass the age limit to take this exam—to perform a jutsu he'd mastered years ago! He was starting to wish that he _had_ made the Hokage repeal the age limit law. Except that if he had then it would have drawn too much attention to him and _that_ was something that he definitely didn't want.

And so, Naruto passed the "exam", though he hardly dared to call it that, with flying colors. He tied the hitai-ate he'd been presented tightly to his forehead as he walked out of the Academy, more than just glad that he'd only have to return once more to the building. Now there was just one more stop that he needed to make before he could move on to more important things, such as training.

The shinobi inside the Hokage Tower didn't even blink as he walked by, used to his presence as they were. Naruto spent a lot of time with the Sandaime—more time than they knew.

"Eh, there you are, Hiruzen," Naruto said as he stopped in the doorway of a room that overlooked the Hokage monument. The Hokage was seated before an easel, painting away with a pipe in his mouth.

The elder man smiled at Naruto's entrance. "Come in, my boy. How did the exam go?" he asked. He easily allowed Naruto to use his personal name because Naruto had told him to do so. Of course, Sarutobi didn't know that; he just thought that he was allowing the boy to be familiar with him.

Naruto snorted lightly. "As if you hadn't already seen the hitai-ate I'm wearing," he replied. "Anyway, I wanted to have a private conversation with you about the team assignments, so put your brush down for a minute."

Sarutobi instantly acquiesced, his eyes clouding over slightly as he did so. "You know I can't tell you about that, Naruto-kun—"

"Quiet." The blond leaned against the open window casually. "Tell me if anyone can hear our conversation."

"Currently there is no one in range," the Sandaime answered immediately. He blinked suddenly and then frowned. "That's odd," he murmured.

Naruto sighed silently. This was a very common occurrence, unfortunately. Sarutobi, though old, was a certifiable genius. He also paid attention to detail more than anyone Naruto had ever met, so he was quick to notice that something was wrong with his actions whenever Naruto was around. _Fortunately_, the newly-promoted Genin had long since learnt how to deal with him.

"You are not noticing anything out of the ordinary with our conversation," Naruto ordered swiftly. "It's completely normal for me to ask these kinds of things and for you to answer. Of course, once I leave you'll only remember us having a nice conversation about how happy I am to finally be a shinobi, right?"

"Yes, yes," Sarutobi murmured distractedly. His eyes unfocused for a moment before snapping back to their usual sharpness. He smiled gently. "Right, the Genin teams. The instructors have already drawn up a list—"

"Don't worry about it—" Naruto began, only to cut himself off with a wince at the choice of words. "No, never mind; worry about it however much you want to," he corrected.

Like all things, Naruto's "ability" came at a cost. In his case, he had to be very careful about how he worded things because anything that came out like a command would be taken as such. This also meant that he could never use metaphors or sayings. If, for example, he got pissed off told someone to go fuck themselves, they would immediately start to do so.

And such an event was unpleasant for _everyone_ involved.

As such, he'd learnt to be very careful from a very young age. That was probably why he spoke a little more formally than most people his age; having to be conscious of everything you said tended to do that.

Naruto sighed and absently ran a hand through his spiky hair—a nervous habit he'd picked up a while ago. "Anyway," he continued, "You will have Uzumaki Naruto, Nara Shikamaru, and Yamanaka Ino placed on a team under Sarutobi Asuma and Uchiha Sasuke, Aburame Shino, and Hyuuga Hinata placed on a team under Hatake Kakashi. Use whatever explanation you want for this arrangement; just make sure it gets done. The rest of the students can be organized however you and/or the Academy teachers wish."

"Interesting arrangement," Sarutobi commented.

Naruto glanced over sharply at the soft tone. When his eyes met the Sandaime's, the dark pair peering back at him was intelligent and completely aware of what was happening. Naruto smiled softly. This happened every now and then: Sarutobi would realize what was happening to him and what was being done. It was inevitable. But it didn't matter because he would forget once Naruto left and a long time ago he'd told Sarutobi to never try to tell anyone or leave any sort of a reminder for himself.

It was tricky to block all the loopholes that Sarutobi might try to slip through, but all he really needed to do was ask the Sandaime himself what could be done and then take countermeasures against all possibilities. Rather simple in practice, really.

"Yes," Naruto agreed. "It is, isn't it? I have big plans for us all. Well, maybe not 'plans', per se, but still lots of ideas for how they can be used."

Sarutobi's shoulders sagged, as though burdened by a heavy weight, and the lines of his aging faces deepened. "Do you really see all people as just tools for you to use, Naruto?"

"Tools?" he laughed. "I suppose. But what else am I supposed to do? I can't exactly just 'switch off' this ability of mine, nor do I have any desire to do so. If I was born with this gift, then wouldn't it be a waste not to use it? Who says that humans aren't my playthings, mine to do with what I choose?" When Sarutobi's mouth opened to reply, he quickly cut him off, "Stop. I don't want to hear any of your self-sacrificing bullshit today. And yes, we have been over all this before; you just don't remember it."

Sarutobi seemed to sink deeper into himself. Not for the first time he suddenly appeared much older than he was and so, so weary. Naruto just shook his head. He'd never understand the old Hokage and, unbeknownst to him, he would never be able to. Because people always _had_ been tools to him.

It was all he'd ever known.

-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-

A/N: So, a couple of things: Naruto has not been abused, nor will he ever be. People fear and mistrust him greatly because of the Kyuubi, but few outright hate him. Also, I will not follow canon line by line. I will _shoot_ myself before doing so. If you want to see what happens in canon, go back and read the manga.

Anyway, think of the consequences of Naruto having the ability that he does. Not only is he utterly invincible in battle, so long as his opponent can hear him, but he has access to an unlimited amount of information since all he has to do is tell Sarutobi to give him such and such report. (Naruto's ability is not a Harry Potter-like "you can break it if your will is strong enough" sort of thing. It is definitive and complete control that a person cannot fight off.) It's like an unlimited freedom. So, I've basically given Naruto ultimate power—in a way. The interesting part, then, will be how he _uses_ it without completely fucking up.

More about Naruto's motives will be in the next chapter.

Also, I chose to put Sasuke under Naruto's control because I could realistically see him trading his freewill for power, kind of like how he did with Orochimaru. Kind of.

[Kyoujin]


	2. Chapter II

-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-

**Bound**_  
Chapter II  
_

-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-

When the Genin teams were announced the next day, Naruto grinned silently at Sasuke. _See_, his expression seemed to say. _I did as _you_ asked this time, so don't complain_. Sasuke just snorted softly and turned away.

Iruka, one of Naruto's teachers, looked a bit bewildered at the team arrangements, particularly the partial split up of the Ino Shika Cho trio, which Naruto had been inserted into. The blond laughed silently at his confusion and at the surprise of the children themselves.

Shikamaru leaned back in his chair to stare up at Naruto, who was one row above him. "So, teammates then?" His voice was casual, but his eyes were calculating.

Naruto's grin had a sharp edge to it. "Of course," he said. "I think we'll work well together, don't you?"

"...Maybe," was Shikamaru's surprising reply. "I don't exactly know you well; you're generally a man of few words."

A bark of laughter was the response he got for that, as well as another one of Naruto's fox-like smiles. "I have to be," he said, smile widening. "Otherwise people might judge me based on what I say, ne?"

Before Shikamaru could come up with a reply to that strange sentence, Ino abruptly slammed her hands down onto Shikamaru's desk. "Listen up, you lazy ass!" she snapped. "You are _not_ going to hold me back! Do you hear me? I won't let you! And that goes for you too, Uzumaki."

Naruto arched one eyebrow, vainly trying to stop a grin from breaking out across his face. "Of course, Yamanaka-san," he said smoothly. "Whatever you say."

She hesitated at that, looking surprised. She nodded grudgingly and then shot another glare at Shikamaru for good measure before stalking off.

"...Interesting girl," Naruto commented once she was out of earshot.

Shikamaru snorted loudly. "That's one way of putting it."

Naruto glanced down at the watch on his wrist briefly. "Anyway, I'm gonna go get some lunch since we've got a couple of hours before the sensei are supposed to show up."

"You mind if I come along?"

The blond paused for a second, honestly shocked. He'd expected Shikamaru to back off a bit, to be cautious. He never in a million years would have thought that Shikamaru would make the first move and start off aggressively. Not for the first time, Naruto wondered just how much Shikamaru had guessed.

"Why not," Naruto said eventually, deciding to humor him. "I'll be meeting up with a few other people though, just to warn you."

If Shikamaru was surprised, he didn't show it. His face held the same lazy look as always and Naruto was beginning to realize that in its own way, it was an impassive look.

The two boys left the Academy and began to wind their way through the streets of Konohagakure. Naturally, Naruto took the lead and eventually guided Shikamaru into the market sector. There, he took a turn into a small restaurant with a red awning. The inside was rather dim overall, but bright lights hung over each table, giving it a rather cozy feeling.

Naruto spared not a glance to anyone inside and none of the staff made any move to stop him as he led Shikamaru through a door in the back. There was a wide hallway there, lined with doors. Naruto turned sharply into the last on the left and walked in without even a knock.

The room, Shikamaru found, was larger than he'd expected it to be. There was a round table in the middle and several shelves stacked with boxes on the far wall. There were two people already seated at the table: A middle-aged man and, to Shikamaru's surprise, Uchiha Sasuke.

Both Sasuke and the other man stood up the moment Naruto stepped into the room. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow but didn't comment.

"Take a seat," Naruto commanded as he pulled out one for himself. The other three did so immediately, Shikamaru with a narrowing of his eyes. "Well, Takezo?" the blond continued.

The older man shifted slightly in his seat. "Not too much news to report, Naruto-sama," he replied. He nervously flicked some hair out of his face. "The Ichiwa-kai and the Nakano-kai factions are on the verge of outright fighting, but they've been hostile for years now, so it's not really surprising. I doubt they'll do anything right now though because the daimyo has been cracking down on organized crime recently..."

Shikamaru's eyes widened marginally, but no one noticed. The man, Takezo, continued to shift in his seat. His eyes were bloodshot and his skin was drawn taught against his skull, giving him a slightly skeletal appearance. He licked lips a couple of times, hesitating.

Sasuke growled slightly as his patience failed and Takezo instantly stilled. His nervous gaze shot over to the dark haired boy and he gulped.

"R-right, well, other than that there's just the usual corrupt businessmen, lazy politicians..."

"Nothing of any real interest then," Naruto sighed.

At that moment the door creaked open. Shikamaru tensed at the sound, caught up in the intensity of the conversation as he was, and Takezo jumped, but neither Naruto nor Sasuke looked surprised. A waiter dressed in black and white entered carrying several trays. He said the food out on the table and then left without a word.

"...You follow the actions of the yakuza," Shikamaru said after a moment. He was staring hard at the plate in front of him, twisting a pair of chopsticks in his hand, but his voice was as calm as ever.

"Naturally," Naruto replied with a rather predatory grin. "Shinobi may not pay much attention to the underworld so long as it doesn't directly affect their mission, but the daimyo and his military does, and thus so do I. They also present a threat so long as they have the profits to hire rouge shinobi to do some of their dirty work. And besides, it's _interesting_." He turned towards Takezo and his expression hardened. "Your information has been drying up recently, Takezo-san. Do you not have anything else that could be even remotely useful?

Takezo gulped again and gripped the edge of the table to stop his hands from visibly trembling. "W-well, I—"

"That's a no, then?" The boy cocked an eyebrow. "Then I really don't have any need of you anymore. So please, go drown in a river."

Takezo's face twisted into an ugly expression of primal fear. He was shaking life a leaf now and his eyes were darting around wildly, looking for a nonexistent exit to Naruto's order. His mouth opened and closed wordlessly, as though attempting to release a silent scream.

Naruto just rolled his eyes. "And be calm about it, of God's sake," he snapped

The change was instantaneous. Takezo relaxed completely in his seat and a serene smiled slipped onto his face. "Of course, Naruto-sama," he murmured. Then he got up and walked out of the room, acting just as calm as Naruto had told him to be.

After Takezo had left, Naruto kept an eye on Shikamaru. The boy had yet to say anything, but he was staring expressionlessly as the chair Takezo had occupied. He was completely motionless.

Finally, Shikamaru tore his gaze away from the chair and met Naruto's pure blue eyes. "I don't understand you," he said.

Naruto blinked, not quite sure what to make of such a statement. "Oh really?" he prompted, smiling slightly.

"Yes," Shikamaru said blandly. "You're obviously very...powerful. I've known that for a while, even if I didn't understand to quite what extent. But what I don't get is why you haven't just taken control of this village or something. If you can do what I think you can do, then you'd easily be able to make them all trust you and obey you or even worship you as a _god_. But despite this you haven't! Even when dealing with me you've left massive loopholes. You could have told me that I wanted to eat somewhere else instead coming with you. You could have told me to be your goddamned _slave_ for all it matters!"

Shikamaru abruptly realized that he was leaning over the table and nearly yelling. He immediately pulled back and turned his gaze to the floor. His mouth was pulled into a tight frown and he made no motion to speak again.

As such, Shikamaru almost jumped in surprise when Naruto began to laugh. It was a strange sound; somehow both enticingly melodic and harsh at the same time. "But where's the fun in that?" the blond retorted. "I could go on a loudspeaker over the village and tell them all to 'worship me as a god', as you put it. And they would do it and I would have no more problems. Ever. But then what would be the point in living? Where's the struggle, the passion? Life would be just boring shades of gray, day after day after day. I could never do that because it would take all the fun out of the game."

"...That's what life is to you, isn't it? Just a game...?"

Again Naruto laughed. He leaned back into his seat and gave Shikamaru a bright smile. "Why wouldn't it be?" he asked almost innocently. "Alright, let me put this a different way. You enjoy playing shogi, yes?"

"...Yeah," Shikamaru agreed warily.

"Well, imagine if when you played shogi your opponent was restricted to the normal playing rules, but you could move your pieces anywhere on the board that wanted, at any time. It wouldn't be a very fun game then, would it?"

"No," was the grudging reply.

"Exactly! It would take away all the challenge, the entire point of playing the game. Life is just like that for me. If I _really_ did whatever I wanted, then there would be no challenge left, no point to living. So instead I impose little challenges on myself, little 'loopholes', as you put it. I also know perfectly well that I'm not invincible by any means, but that only makes it all the more fun."

"Still," Shikamaru murmured. He shook his head wordlessly.

Naruto shrugged. "I am under no illusion that what I do is 'good' or 'right', if that's what you're wondering," he commented. "It's just what I do. It's what I always have done and always will do. There is no way for me to take this 'ability' of mine away, even if I wanted to—which I don't, by the way."

Although he was still frowning, Shikamaru sighed. "You're right about that part," he said wearily. "And I guess there's nothing I can either, when it really comes down to it." He snorted. "That's why you brought me here, isn't it? To show me that."

Naruto shrugged, not deigning to reply.

Shikamaru nodded, his suspicions confirmed. "Fine. I guess I should get back to the Academy then."

"If that's your wish."

Shikamaru's departure was abrupt and silent, much like the boy himself. After he was gone, Naruto and Sasuke sat in silence for several long seconds, both reflecting over the day's events.

"Was it necessary to go to quite that extent to reel Shikamaru in?" Sasuke finally asked. "Takezo _was_ a good source of information."

Naruto flippantly waved the comment off. "Shikamaru is interesting. And besides, there are a hundred other men just like Takezo that we can use. Hell, if I really feel the need to, I'll go to one of the yakuza bosses themselves."

Sasuke scoffed, but didn't disagree. "Are we going to eat or not?" he demanded instead.

"I believe I've lost my appetite," the blond replied as he eyed his food thoughtfully. "I'm going to return to the Academy as well."

"Then I'm coming too," Sasuke said. He pushed his plate away from him with a derisive sniff. "This place serves shit. Remind me again why we don't eat at five-star restaurants all the time?"

"That would attract too much attention," Naruto chided. "We're keeping low-key, Sasuke. _Low_-key."

"Yeah, yeah," the other boy grumbled. "Doesn't change the taste of the food though. At least get a personal chef or something though..."

As the two newly-named Genin walked from the room, the four untouched plates of food were left lying on the table for the flies.

-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-

Naruto wasn't quite sure what to make of Sarutobi Asuma. Having never met the man before, he'd had some kind of an image of a younger Sandaime in his head. In reality, this wasn't the case. At all. In fact, Asuma held no resemblance whatsoever to his father, as far as Naruto could see, save perhaps for their similar smoking tendencies.

Asuma was a rather laid back man in his mid twenties. He had dark hair and a short beard and there was perpetually a cigarette hanging from between his lips. He spoke with a slight drawl and apparently had the patience of a saint. Or at least Naruto assumed he did, considering his slow, relaxed gestures.

But of course, appearances were deceiving. And because Naruto _had_ looked into Asuma's records in depth before choosing him as his sensei, he knew that Asuma was a peerless Jounin who'd once served as one of the Daimyo's bodyguards—a very prestigious position, to be sure. Asuma was well-rounded in the shinobi arts, from Taijutsu, to Ninjutsu, to Genjutsu. His speed was second to only a few in the village, he was the master of numerous techniques—half of which he'd come up with himself—and his senses were good enough that few illusions were known to work on him.

In all, he was the perfect teacher. He had bounties of knowledge to pass on and the patience and skill to deliver said knowledge.

He was exactly what Naruto needed.

"So then," Asuma said around his cigarette, "Where should we start?"

The four of them were standing on the edge of one of Konoha's numerous training grounds. Asuma was leaned casually against a nearby tree, Ino was shuffling her feet uncomfortably, and Shikamaru was standing slouched with his hands in his pockets. Naruto, however, had immediately plopped himself on the ground, sitting propped up on his hands with his legs splayed out. His casual mannerism had garnered a glare from Ino originally, to which he had replied with a smile and a wave.

"What do you mean?" Ino demanded. She flushed immediately, all but proving that nervousness was making her act even harsher than normal.

Asuma just chortled. "With introductions, I mean," he explained. "If we're going to be a team, then need to get to know each other and introductions are the perfect start?"

"Uh, well then, I'm Yamanka Ino," the young girl began.

"Nara Shikamaru," the boy next to her grunted.

When three expectant gazes fell onto Naruto, he grinned widely, but made no move to stand. "Uzumaki Naruto, at your service!" he exclaimed. Shikamaru snorted quietly at the choice of words.

"And I'm Sarutobi Asuma," Asuma finished. "I'll most likely be your sensei. I say 'most likely' because—"

"Ah, right, I'd almost forgotten about that secondary test," Naruto said suddenly. Before Asuma could even open his mouth, the blond plowed on, "Since I don't particularly feel like doing anything else today...You've already given us your secondary Genin exam, Asuma-sensei, and we passed with flying colors. You're just about to let us go for the day."

"What the—?!"

"You remember taking the exam, right Ino-san?"

The girl's confused face fell slack. "Of course," she mumbled hazily.

Naruto nodded firmly. "Right. So, sensei?"

"Good job today, kids!" Asuma said instantly. His eyes were still a little unfocused. "Congratulations on officially becoming Genin. We're going to meet at training ground number nine tomorrow at 0500 hours to get started on your training. We'll also be doing at least one D-rank mission tomorrow, so come prepared for that."

"See you tomorrow sensei!" Ino began to say before Naruto calmly cut her off.

"Asuma-sensei, Ino-san, stand here for about an hour," he said. "Then head off wherever you need to."

The two immediately froze, staring off into space blankly. Smiling, Naruto turned to Shikamaru and gestured for him to follow as he began to walk away.

"Come. I can tell from your expression that you've got a few more questions."

"...I do," Shikamaru said slowly. He glanced back at his sensei and teammate for a moment before hurrying to catch up to Naruto—only to realize that he'd been following the blond along, thanks to that "come" command. "What I don't quite get," he said to get his mind off it, "Is why people don't notice that something is wrong. I mean, shouldn't Asuma-sensei have noticed that we were in the exact same spot as 'before the test' at the very least?"

"Memory is a strange thing," Naruto replied with a shrug. "If memories don't quite match up, such as with Asuma-sensei, then the brain automatically fills in the gaps to try to make sense of the scene it has. It's for this very reason that even the Yamanka jutsu that look through memories are not infallible—it's impossible to tell what is 'fact' from what isn't, especially since perception colors events differently. For example, one person could look at someone who's angry and sympathize with their frustration while another could see them as a raging psychopath. That same memory could look very different, depending on the perspective."

Shikamaru had a pensive expression on his face. He nodded slowly a few times, clearly lost in thought.

"Anyway," Naruto continued. "There _are_ some people who notice that something is wrong whenever I speak—you're one example. These people are few and far between, however, and are easily handled, so it doesn't matter."

Still Shikamaru didn't reply. He and Naruto walked aimlessly through the streets together in silent amity. Neither had any particular idea where they were going, but then, Shikamaru wasn't paying attention and Naruto just didn't care. He was far too amused by watching the silent procession of emotions flickering across his teammate's face.

Then, without warning, Shikamaru stopped in the middle of the busy street and turned to Naruto. The blue eyed boy raised an eyebrow in question, fighting to keep his smile of his face.

"I think..." Shikamaru said slowly, "...I think I'll...join you."

"Oh?"

"I don't really have a choice," he sighed with a resigned shrug. In fact, everything about his posture looked resigned. Reluctant as well, perhaps, but certainly resigned. "You are what you are and nothing is ever going to change that. I could fight against this, try to tell someone or _something_, but I doubt it would accomplish anything in the end. No, it's far less troublesome just to go along with you."

"Great!" Naruto said brightly as he clapped his hands. A wide smile had broken across his face, but he didn't look triumphant—he'd known from the beginning that this was how it would turn out, Shikamaru realized suddenly. "I look forward to working with you as a teammate then, Shika-kun!"

-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-

A/N: Just a warning, Naruto will be a bit of a bastard. Anyone who has such complete control probably would be. A major part of this story will be exploring Naruto's psyche and what power has done to him—on top of the actual plot, that is.

Also, the bit in here about the brain filling in gaps in memories is in fact true, hence why what Naruto does is possible. And his commands cannot be misinterpreted by the listener because it's Naruto's will that makes them happen. So whatever he wants, he gets.

Oh, and Shogi is essentially Japanese chess, by the way.

[Kyoujin]


End file.
